So recently there have been these different versions of PBs becoming available that are very popular with those little self-contained panels that house a two-player setup with a game board and a speaker inside the panel. These used to come with the “real” PBs that used a JAMMA connector:

But now they use these newer “Family” versions:

These Family versions should really be called “Home” versions because they have very little to do with an arcade cabinet:

• They do not use a game’s existing JAMMA harness – causing you to either buy another adaptor or rewire your cabinet
• They do not use a game’s existing power supply – so you have to wire another AC power supply into your cabinet
• They do not output the same audio levels (and usually only mono, not stereo), so you might not get the same audio experience or might have to add an external amplifier
• They do not output CGA-compatible video, just VGA and/or HDMI, so you may have to replace the monitor in your cabinet or get a downscaler to convert HDMI or VGA to CGA
• If you run “home edition” and “family edition” into a translator, you get the same output ? (actually, “home” and “family”  sometimes produce the same translation depending on the context)

It seems like these Family versions were practically invented for those little self-contained panels.  Some of them can run without a harness connected, just a TV, power brick, and some USB controllers!  Not exactly “arcade” style, huh? No, these were made for the home market, and should be left as such. Continue reading Family and Arcade Versions of Pandora’s Boxes →